Intervention for infants at risk of developing autism: a case series.

Green et al. (2013) filmed parents playing with their 8- to 10-month-old babies who had an older sibling with autism. The team then coached the parents to spot and respond to tiny social cues.

Each family got a short video lesson and practiced at home. The study only asked, “Can we run this?” It did not test if the babies later got an autism diagnosis.

Parents said the plan was easy and helpful. Staff could collect all planned data, so the method was judged doable.

No child outcome numbers were reported. The paper simply shows the project is possible to run.

Klusek et al. (2015) later pooled nine similar baby projects, including this one, and found small social gains plus happy parents. The review treats Green et al. (2013) as a building block, not proof.

Klein et al. (2024) kept the parent-coach idea but moved it online in India. They also saw high parent satisfaction, showing the plan travels to Zoom and new cultures.

Chandler et al. (2002) did an earlier home program, but waited until toddlers were 2–3 years. Starting at 8–10 months is newer and still unproven for changing later diagnosis.

If you work with families who already have one autistic child, you can offer this low-stress, video-aided coaching as soon as the new baby arrives. Tell parents it is only a feasibility plan—no promise of prevention yet—and use it while they wait for fuller services.